Worship Orders

Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Centre

Worship Order of the Community Worship

11^th August, 2010. Wednesday

Week’s theme: Affirmation and Celebration of Life

Theme of the day: From the Community of Saints to the Community of Friends

Call to worship

L:     The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all that dwells therein.

All:   We are here to worship God the creator of life, we are not alone.

         We share this life with the heavens and the earth,

         With the waters and the land,

         With trees and grasses,

         With fish, birds, and animals,

         With creatures of every form,

         With the women and men

         With whom we share our dreams of a new earth and new heavens. Amen

Opening prayer

L:      Almighty God our parent, we praise you for gathering us here to worship you, your son and Holy Spirit. Help us to experience your revealing presence in our midst. As we worship you today, we humbly ask you to gift us with a renewed perception of your life eternal. Keep us ever in the joy of celebrating your gift of life to us. We commit each and everyone who participate in this worship into your keeping. Bless and sanctify us that we may reflect the radiance of your life to the world around.

Amen

Hymn 302 (Gurkul Hymnal)

Praise and thanks giving

L.   God, we thank you for the gift of creation and the miracle of life.

      We praise you for the earth; our warm home, for the rays of the sun, land and sea.

      We praise you for the atmosphere where we live, breathe and love.

We thank you for our neighbours; the web of relations and the community of friends, animated by your life energy to find meaning and goodness in all.

We thank you for life nourished in different contexts; for the inherent diversity of your creation and for making each one of us distinct and unique.

      We praise you for all these gifts that grant us life.

Lord we praise and thank you!

Confession

All:    O God Parent of our Friend and Guide Jesus;

         we confess that we have become badly accustomed to death:

         to the death of the soul, to the death on the street,

         to the death through violence in the name of gods and religions-

         to the death before life. Our ears are used to the incessant groaning of creatures and become numb; our hearts have accepted the fact that things cannot be any way different from what it is today. Often times, we find it convenient to withdraw from the scenes of violations on the sanctity of life.

         Thus we become indifferent to life; your invaluable gift.

         Still we claim to be the followers of your son,

         who dared to give out his very life out of his passion for life. Compassionate God forgive us for these our sins, we beseech you through your son Jesus. Amen

Absolution

All:   God our parent, who passionately loves life, forgives our sins and liberates us from the fear of death. May God make our life alive to the extent that it is mutually loved and affirmed amongst us.

Amen

Scripture reading

Matthew 5: 43-48 (Stand)

Reflection

Faith affirmation (stand)

We believe in God our creator and sustainer of our hope of abundant life, who shared the very life-breath with us in the act of creation. Who affirm life through the continuing embodying acts in the history of different people hoods around the globe.

We believe in Jesus our friend, who stooped down from the saintly halo of a rabbi to befriend with the ordinary fisher folk, tax collectors and “sinful” women and men, to inspire in them a love for life before and against death. Who does not point simply to a life without pain in a distant heaven, but heals the sick, frees the captives and forgives the sinners to affirm freed, redeemed life and divine life in this world, in our times and in our midst.

We believe in the life giving spirit of God

Who communicates to the world, the joy of knowledge of God’s love for life in everyday languages and re-enacts the Pentecost in our midst. Who gives us courage to affirm life in the midst of raging powers of death. Who is the source of utopia, dreams and our sense of history that drives our lives forward and adds colors and meaning in plenty. Who broods over life to make it new and full.

We believe in the presence of kingdom in our midst, which is God’ outstretched arms-God’s initiative, offering life in abundance to all living beings on earth. We believe in God’s kingdom as God’s will that life, love and justice reign in history.

Amen

Intercession

L. Maili is one of the thousands Nepali girls trafficked to India for sex-trade. Maili too had to end up in the notorious red street called Kamathipura as the other numerous hapless Nepali girls do. In her case she was deceived by one of her neighbours whom she knew well from her childhood days. She was traveling from Nepal to India in search of better medical treatment for her child infected with pneumonia. She was eventually deceived and sold for 50,000 Indian rupees by her neighbour to a broker at Kamathipura. At the brothel it was all like a nightmare. First she was severed from her child and was beaten left and right to agree to the demands of the brothel owner. At last she had to yield to lead the indescribably horrendous life in the brothel, because of her love for her life and also to save the life of her child. She was fed only once in a day in the brothel and was allowed to have a shower only once in a week. Stabbing and cigarette burns were the order of the days. Her ordeal in the brothel continued until a humanitarian aid agency called Maiti Nepal, led by the bold Nepalese woman Anuradha Koirala came to her rescue. Maiti in Nepalese means, the mother’s home. Maiti rescued thousands of Nepalese girls from the brothels of Kamathipura by creating a network between human rights activists, police, advocacy groups and the victims. Many of the rescued girls were not accepted back to their respective families, because of the stigma associated with their betrayal and the life at the brothal. Hence Maiti was organizing an alternate home for these betrayed girls to feel that they are wanted and their lives are worth living. Many of the girls are tested positive for HIV/AIDS and are treated at the Maiti homes. One of the encouraging thing we see in the approach of Maiti in the fight against this evil is that they are not allowing the victims to remain in that state for ever. They are transformed into courageous activists in the caring ambience of the Maiti homes. Maili along with many other girls help in checking the trafficking by guarding the border check posts between India and Nepal, helping in raiding the brothels and even counseling the trapped girls to motivate them to come out of their captivity. Thus creating a community of friends, who support each other in their attempts to find meaning for their earthly existence.

Let us pray for the victims of sex-trafficking in India and Nepal. Let us also remember the programmes intended to liberate these girls from their captivity. Let us remember Maiti Nepal and similar agencies and activists like Anuradha Koirala, who dare to risk their lives in the passion for life.

 Let us pray for our community, our teachers, non-teaching staff and all the students.

Lord’s Prayer (in vernacular)

Benediction

L.   May the blessing of the God of peace and justice be with us;

      May the blessing of the Son who wipes the tears of the world’s suffering be with us;

      And may the blessing of the Spirit who inspires us to reconciliation and hope be with us;

      from now into eternity.

Amen